Symphony No. 4 (Tansman Episodes), written for a large orchestra, organ and piano, will be played for the first time in Poland by the Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk. The concert will also include pieces by Aleksander Tansman – Polish Dances No. 4 and Movements No. 4 for orchestra. The event is organized by the Tansman Festival Association for Culture Promotion in Łódź.
The symphony’s world premiere took place in April 2014 in London's Royal Festival Hall performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Its Polish premiere will end the programme presenting the piece in a series of “four premiers”. The event will take place a day after its presentation in Amsterdam and a month after Los Angeles. The event is also very special for the 2015 Tansman Festival, said Matylda Kamińska from the festival's office.
The story of Symphony No. 4 goes back to 1998. Andrzej Wendland created the Tansman Festival, where Górecki received an award for ‘extraordinary musical personality and uncompromising creativity’ in 2002.
Wendland and Górecki agreed that Górecki would write a piece of music which they described as a freestyle form for a symphonic orchestra. In his last letter to Wendland from 2007, Górecki wrote that he had the piano part ready but he hadn’t written the score for the music because he had been sick. He was hoping to finish it soon, but he didn’t get the chance – he died in November 2010.
The full version for symphonic orchestra, organ and piano was written by his son, Mikołaj, in accordance with the composer’s comments.
Matylda Kamińska revealed that the London publisher, the composer’s family, and the Silesian musical milieu all agreed that Łódź should be the setting of the Polish premiere, since it was the source of the inspiration behind the piece.
Henryk Mikołaj Górecki (1933-2010) was born in Czernica, near Rybnik in southern Poland. For many years he was connected to the Academy of Music in Katowice, where he was a professor and rector between 1975-1979.
He made his debut in 1958 with Epitafium to lyrics by Julian Tuwim, at the Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music. Symphony No. 3, ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’ written in 1976, was inspired by Silesian folk songs and brought him international fame.
The composer won many international contests, and he received honorary doctorates from various universities in Poland and abroad. Three weeks before his death, he was honoured in his hospital bed with the highest Polish distinction – the Order of the White Eagle.
Some of Górecki’s most important pieces are Epitafium, Genesis I-III, Three Songs, Opus 3, Refrain Opus 21 for orchestra, Old Polish Music (Muzyka Staropolska), Ad Matrem, Beatus vir, Miserere, Recitativo i ariosa - Lerchenmusik, Totus Tuus, Already It Is Dusk, Opus 62, String Quartet and Quasi una fantasia, Opus 64, string quartet
Źródło: PAP, opr. PZ, 19/01/2015